Varun Chandra has emerged as the frontrunner to be the UK’s next ambassador in Washington, stirring discontent among sections of the Foreign Office that another political appointee is taking the role after the sacking of Lord Peter Mandelson.
Chandra, the former head of strategic consultancy Hakluyt and Sir Keir Starmer’s top business adviser, is widely tipped to be appointed to the role following his work to secure the US-UK trade deal earlier this year, according to people briefed on the matter.
His main challenger is Christian Turner, a former political director at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office who is due to become the UK’s permanent representative at the UN in New York later this year. Interviews are expected to take place next month.
While people close to the FCDO say Chandra is widely admired in the organisation for his work on the US trade deal, his elevation would come at a time of a severe restructuring at the Foreign Office that has already hit morale.
All directors general and director-level staff have been made to reapply for their jobs by Sir Oliver Robbins, the top civil servant at the Foreign Office who was formerly the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator. Further cuts to staffing are expected in the coming months.
One former ambassador said appointing someone from outside the normal Foreign Office channels risked leaving senior staff feeling undermined.
“It will feel like another vote of no confidence,” the former ambassador told the FT. “The bigger issue is all senior staff having to reapply for their jobs and some being sacked.”
Others have defended the move, saying that the chief job of Washington ambassador will be to charm President Donald Trump’s inner circle.
Starmer brought back Mandelson, a veteran of Sir Tony Blair’s government, for the Washington job given his reputation for successful flattery of the rich and powerful.
But the appointment ended in Mandelson’s sacking in September after additional revelations regarding the depth of his relationship with the late sex offender and financier, Jeffrey Epstein.
“Civil servants recognise that it’s critical to get on with the president in what can be challenging circumstances,” another former ambassador said.
Robbins, who was appointed in January after a few years in the private sector including a stint at Hakluyt under Chandra, has pushed an aggressive restructuring of the FCDO that will see the organisation cut its total number of staff.
The Foreign Office absorbed the Department for International Development in 2020. Last year the government announced the international aid budget was being slashed to help boost military spending.
“Morale is indeed poor but there is a sense that only an outsider like Olly could do the delayering and other structural changes that the place needs after the merger,” one FCDO veteran said.
The FCDO said in a statement that it had “begun a series of changes” as part of a five-year plan. It declined to comment on the next ambassador to Washington.
“This will include a headcount reduction as we move towards a slimmer, more agile workforce,” the FCDO said.
“This is a key step in our reform programme to ensure that the FCDO is more open, more strategic and more technologically enabled, to deliver maximum security and growth for the British people.”
Other officials argued the FCDO had run an open and transparent process for the Washington ambassador post. The job application for one of the most coveted jobs in diplomacy was available to all qualified staff on its recruitment website.
While not a diplomat, Chandra has worked in dozens of countries and previously lived in New York in his role at Hakluyt, a London-based consultancy founded by former MI6 intelligence officers.
Chandra once worked as an investment banker at the now-defunct Lehman Brothers and is close to Blair, having worked for the former prime minister for about six years from 2008.
One ex-FCDO mandarin said: “I think Varun would be great in the role He’s imaginative and superb at establishing and sustaining relationships. We’d need to beef up the security side of the embassy as he has no defence experience but that can be done.” James Roscoe, acting ambassador and a foreign policy veteran, is seen in diplomatic circles as an ideal foil for Chandra.
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